Door for side-dump cars.



A. M. 60W.

DOOR FOR SIDE DUMP CARS- APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17, 1916.

mwwa Patented Jan. 2,1917.

ALEXANDER M. GQN, 0F DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

DOOR FOE SIDE-DUMP CARS. 1

all whom it may concern:

lie it known that I, ALEXANDER M. Gow, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of h'linnesota, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Doors for Side- Dump Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to dumping cars and has particular reference to a novel door for use in connection with cars of the bodily tilting type.

It is evident that with a large car of the side dumping type, wherein the door is necessarily suspended from bending strain is very great, due to the pressure of the load. To overcome this bending strain, it has been customary to reinforce the door with tie rods, and these having proved inefficient and insufficient, the customary practice is to make the doors of square, boxgirder section, consisting of vertical inner and outer plates separated at the top and bottom with channel irons or Z-bars. Such construction, while an advance over the ti rod construction, is weak in that it does not present the greatest resistance at the point of greatest strain, namely at the top edge of the door. When a car of this type is loaded with heavy material as, for instance, ore or rock and boulders, it is evident that there is practically no strain on the bottom edge of the door, while the top edge is under maximum strain or outward pressure. In addition, the top, or upper edge, is subject to the severe impact of the material when the car is being loaded. It is clear then that door designed to resist the strain to which it is subjected, should have a maximum of strength at its top edge and a minimum of strength at its bottom edge. Furthermore, when the car begins to tilt, or dump, the door should be so designed as to free itself from the pressure of the load that it may rise with a minimum of resistance. To accomplish this end many devices have been employed to cause the bottom of the door to swing outwardly, coincident with its upward movement. such devices involving a complication of levers and moving arms which have been the basis of several patents.

My construction involves making a door which shall have a maximum strength at its top edge and a minimum strength at its bottom edge, and by its taper form shall relieve itself from the pressure of the load as the Specification of Letters Patent.

its two ends, the

Patented Jan. 2, 191?.

Application filed February 17, 1916. Serial No. 78,909.

car isdumped. To accomplish these ends, I propose to make a door whose outside shall be practically vertical, but whoseinside shall be inclined, or sloping. By so doing I nowise decrease the capacity of the car, for what I lose in increased \Nldtll at the top I gain by decreased width at the bottom. I thus am enabled to build a door having strength suliicient to resist the; strains and blows at the point where they come, namely, at the top edge of the door, Without decreasing the capacity of the car. In addition, I am enabled to build a door of less weight and cheaper to fabricate.

The invention will be more readily under-. stood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an end elevation of a car to which my improvement is applied; Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the door shown in the car of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 1 is a section through a door of modified form; Fi 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; %ig. ti is an edge elevation of the gusset employed in the construction of Figs. 4 and 5, Fig. 2 is a sectional view through a still further modification, and Fig. 8 is a. section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

tet'erring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that a car body 10 of the type contemplated by me is mounted for oscillation on suitable brackets 11 mounted on the bolsters 12. The doors 13, which act as the closures for the sides of the box or car body are mounted on arms 14:, pivoted at 15. Connected to the arms let intermediate their ends are links 16, to the'lower ends of which links are connected links 17, pivoted to the brackets 11. The lower ends of the links 16 norn'ially rest upon the bolsters 1,2 or a similar supporting element. The arrangement is such that as the car body tilts the body and the door assume the dotted-line positions ot Fig. 1.

Fig. 2. The top member .27, is, however, semi-circular in cross section, and the gusset 52 8 is joined, not only to the inner and outer plates, but to the top member as-well. The specific form ofthe gusset is shown in elevation in Fig. 6. In the construction of Figs. 7 and 8 both the innerv and outer plates 29, 30, are inclined, the same being directly joined at their lower edges. The top member consists of'a semicircular plate 31, similar to that shown in Fig. 4, while the gusset. 32 may be'of a common form. In the con-v struction of Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive it will be seen that the outer wall of the door is verti-' cal while the inner Wall is inclined. The exact shape of the outer wall is immaterial,

except in that it should be so designed as to provide proper strength. However, the

downward and outward inclination of the inner Wall provides the function of lessened strength is needed.

' It will be understood that the invention I contemplates the employment of a Wide, 1ongitudinally extending upper member and a relatively narrow longitudinally extending lower memberand a plate connecting said members, together with means either in the form of a plate, braces, posts, etc., for connecting the free edges of the top and bottom members. While the preferred construction contemplates the employment of inner and outer plates in order to secure the requisite strength, it will be understood that an advantageous result may be secured from 'certain modifications of that construction.

Obviously the construction is capable 'of combination of inner and outer plates, said inner plate being inclined with relation to the vertical, thereby forming a structure which is of greater transverse thickness at the top of the door than at the bottom, and interior stiffening means between said inner and outer plates, substantially as described.

3. A skeleton door, substantially triangular in cross section and composed of inner bottom member.

4:. A dump. car door, comprising a long'i tudinal top member, a longitudinal bottom member of less transverse strength than the top member, a longitudinal plate secured at its top and bottom edges to the members,

and stiffening members secured'to the plate between the top and bottom members, the

whole forming a structure of substantially,

triangular shape, having the base uppermost. I

5. A dump car door, comprising longitudinally extending top and bottom members, an .uprightly disposed longitudinal plate secured to the members at its top and bottom edges, the transverse depth of the bottom member being less than the transverse depth of the top member, the whole fo ming a structure of substantially trian guiar shape, having the base uppermost.

6. In a car body adapted to be dumped sidewise, a door having a Wide longitudi nally extending top member and a relatively narrow longitudinally extending bottom member, a plate connecting said members and stiffening members of substantially triangular shape disposed vertically between.

' the top and bottommembers and secured to the plate.

7. A dump car door, comprising a structural steel beam having a progressivelyvariable transverse strength and depth, this transverse strength and depth being maximum at the top edge and minimum at the bottom edge, the beam being of substantially triangular cross section, having the base uppermost.

8. In a car body adapted to be dumped sidewise, the combination of a door having a wide, longitudinally extending top member and a relatively narrow, longitudinally extending bottom member, a plate connecting the inside edges of said top and bottom members, and stiffening means for said plate, the door having a progressively variable transverse strength, this strength being.

maximum at the top edge and minimum at the bottom edge, substantially as described.

Signed at Duluth, Minn, this 14: day of February, 1916.

ALEXANDER M. GOW.

Witnesses:

J. A. Hnoron, Orro L. MANTHEY. 

